Nutrient Management Strategies In Integrated Farming Systems

The overall strategy for increasing crop yields and sustaining them at a high level must include an integrated approach to the management of soil nutrients, along with other complementary measures. An integrated approach recognizes that soils are the storehouse of most of the plant nutrients essential for plant growth and that the way in which nutrients are managed will have a major impact on plant growth, soil fertility, and agricultural sustainability. Farmers, researchers, institutions, and government all have an important role to play in sustaining agricultural productivity.

Papers presented at the winter school on "Nutrient Management Strategies in Integrated Farming Systems", held at College of Agriculture, Raichur during 3-23 December 2012.

Papers presented at the winter school on "Nutrient Management Strategies in Integrated Farming Systems" organized by the Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Raichur during 3-23 December 2012.

The book "Integrated Nutrient Management for Sustainable Agriculture" is a compilation of best integrated nutrient management strategies for suggesting answers of various soil and crop related problems, like disparity in NPK consumption, imbalance use of fertilizers, decreasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and decreasing factor productivity etc. The present book suggested appropriate and best INM options for important crops viz., rice, wheat, sorghum, maize, pearl millet, soybean, groundnut, sunflower, cotton, mustard, sugarcane, pulses, vegetables, spices, fruit crops and ornamental plants besides important cropping system of the country for sustaining their productivity on one hand and maintaining soil health for future generation on the other hand. For better understanding of students and researchers some comprehensive and detailed information about soils and crop are provided through appendices. The INM production recommendations and practices given in the book will be very useful for farmers, agriculturists, agronomists, soil scientists, environmentalists, agriculture extension workers, researchers, students, research institutions etc. The book contains 200 INM options covering important crops and cropping systems prevailing in various states for ensuring food security. This books serves as text cum reference book for students, research scholars and those who are actively engaged in different field of Agriculture.

This publication is structured on the main themes of the consultation: the importance of plant nutrition for meeting agricultural product requirements; soil organic matter, biomass, soil microflora and management of integrated plant nutrition systems; renewable supply of plant nutrients from natural sources and plant nutrient transfer to crops; the place and role of local and external sources of plant nutrients in cropping systems and their evaluation; plant nutrient management in farming systems and in watersheds and territories; and priorities for FAO's Integrated Plant Nutrion Systems (IPNS) programme

Changes in economic situation of farmers and changes in farming systems has refocused attention on ways to integrate nutrient sources. The papers contained in this publication were presented at an international workshop held at the National Agricultural Research Centre, Laos in April, 1999.

Soil degradation and nutrient depletion have become serious threats to agricultural productivity in Africa. Soils cannot supply the quantities of nutrients required and yield levels decline rapidly once cropping commences. This book addresses these issues and includes papers from an international symposium held at Cotonou, Benin, October 9-12, 2000, organized by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria and the Department of Land Management of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. In five main parts it marks the end of a first phase of collaborative research on "Balanced Nutrient Management Systems for the Moist Savanna and Humid Forest Zones of Africa" and concludes with recommendations, providing essential reading for crop and soil scientists.

Agriculture is the main occupation in India and about 75% of its population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihood. It is the dominant sector that contributes 18% of the gross domestic product. Thus, agriculture is the foundation of the Indian economy. The maximum share of Indian exports is also from the agriculture sector. As the population of the country is increasing trem- dously, approximately at the rate of 19 million every year over the existing popu- tion of more than 1 billion (approximately 1. 18 billion), the food grain production must necessarily be increased. This can be done by increasing crop production to match the population growth rate of 2. 2% per annum, which is expected to stabilize at 1. 53 billion around 2050. There is no doubt that the Green Revolution in India during the late 1960s brought self-sufficiency in food grain production, mainly through the increase in rice and wheat crop yields – the two main crops of the country which play an important role from food security point of view. However, the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, and the neglect of organic manures for these crops, has resulted in the deterioration of physical, chemical and biological health of the ri- and wheat-growing soils. Owing to the deterioration of the health of these soils, the productivity of the rice–wheat cropping system has now either got reduced or in some places has become constant for the last decade.

Both nutrient scarcities and surpluses alike can threaten this balance.